State Street Corp lowered its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,695,309 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,665 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 0.08% of Novartis worth $194,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company's stock worth $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 191.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $64,610,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 343.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company's stock worth $70,652,000 after buying an additional 509,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Novartis by 10,528.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 324,171 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,511,000 after buying an additional 321,121 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Several research analysts have commented on NVS shares. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. HSBC cut Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.50.
Read Our Latest Report on Novartis
NYSE NVS opened at $98.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $201.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.22.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.
Novartis AG engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology.
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